


The Phantom and The Potter

by Rye (AlastorGrim)



Category: Danny Phantom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Danny Fenton, BAMF Harry Potter, Danny Fenton Goes To Hogwarts, EXCEPT FOR WHEN IT'S NOT, Friendship is Magic, Ghost Shenanigans, Minor Character Death, Multi, No Beta We Die Like Teenage Boys With A Martyr Complex, Normal Hogwarts Shenanigans, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Severus Snape Being Iconic, Tags to be added, The Weasley Twins Being The Weasley Twins, Timeline What Timeline, ghost lore, pop culture references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29268663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlastorGrim/pseuds/Rye
Summary: After finding out that Ilvermorny has absolved themselves of all responsibility regarding one Daniel James Fenton, Dumbledore decides to offer him a place at Hogwarts instead. This...may prove to be a mistake.Following Danny as he gets involved with Hogwarts' own troublesome trio, creates his own, sends the entire wizarding ghost world into a tizzy, pisses off a Dark Lord, and generally runs from his problems. What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Harry Potter, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley
Comments: 20
Kudos: 210





	1. Dear Mr. Fenton

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I'll add ships eventually, but for right now I'm just vibin'. I have wanted these two idiots to meet FOREVER, because Harry Potter and Danny Fenton could be twins and I would like to share their shenanigans with the world. But first!
> 
> Explanations, world-building, and Snapey 🖤

Nearly a year after Danny Fenton stepped into his parents ghost portal and walked out half-dead, an owl smacked him in the face. 

He'd been flying above the town, doing his normal rounds and making sure that Box Ghost wasn't lurking anywhere just to be an annoyance. He'd caught a glimpse of something suspicious looking below--a flare of blue that looked distinctly like Ember--when he suddenly caught a face full of tawny feathers. Danny gave a squawk similar to the owl's as he flailed in midair, jerking back and hastily catching the poor bird before it could fall. "Shit! Sorry, little guy. Are you okay?"

The owl in question merely hopped up in his palms, looking rather ruffled and far more sentient than most owls tended to be, and stuck out its leg at him. Bewildered, Danny stared dumbly at the yellowed and weathered envelope tied to the owl's leg. 

Who even sent letters anymore? And by owl, no less? Weren't letters normally sent by doves or something? Or, maybe, by _mail_?

The only thing Danny could think was that this was some sort of message from one of the older ghosts that didn't know how else to reach him. But--Danny was pretty sure this was a normal owl. His ghost sense hadn't gone off once the whole time he'd been holding it, and it had a distinct lack of 'green and glowing' to it that signified a lack of ghostliness.

Wary, Danny gently took the envelope off the owl's leg. He jumped when the owl immediately took off in a huff, as if it had completed its duty and was glad to be rid of him. Danny was used to that. Normally it was people, not animals, but honestly Danny had seen so much shit at this point that it was hardly surprising.

He gave a little shrug and looked down at the envelope in his hands. Raising an eyebrow at the address, Danny snorted. "To Daniel J. Fenton, Midair Over Amity Clock Tower, South Street, Amity Park." He glanced down at the clock below him and shook his head, lighting the tip of his finger to sear the flap open and get at the letter within. "Well, points for creepy accuracy, I guess."

Tugging the stiff paper out of the envelope, he unfolded it and floated down to sit on the clock tower roof, settling in for whatever shockwave of bullshit that normally came from one of the Ancients getting in touch with him. He looked it over, wondering how the hell the ink hadn't run when he could clearly see water spots on the envelope. The poor owl must've gone through a patch of rain. Or twenty.

Danny's eyes went wide, only growing bigger the more he read.

' _Dear Mr. Fenton,_

_It has come to our attention that due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, you have not been informed of some rather pertinent information. In an attempt to rectify this, we have seen fit to extend an olive branch of sorts and accept you into our fold._

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please see the enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st._

_We understand that the circumstances are unusual, and your situation will have put you at a disadvantage, so we will send a Hogwarts representative to your home upon receiving your reply. We await your eagle by no later than July 31st._

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore - Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ '

Danny gawked down at the letter for a long moment, only shutting his mouth when a moth zoomed directly into it and tried to fly down his esophagus. He choked, clutching his throat and going intangible to shoo the stupid thing out of his body. Shaking his head, Danny looked back down at the letter, eyeing it with increasing incredulity and turning it over in his hands so he could look it over. 

It was a trick. Right? This had to be a trick. There was no way Danny just got sent an invitation to some sort of _wizard school_. It had to be some kind of practical joke.

But there were no ectosignatures or even any ectoenergy coming off the letter, and no human knew Phantom was Danny Fenton. Well, save for Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, but none of them would pull this type of prank. Jazz would think it would be bad for his mental state, Tucker would do something that involved dicks getting drawn on Danny's face while he slept, and Sam would come up with something much more creative than some weird ass magic school. Honestly, he'd expect this kind of thing from Dash, but there was no way Dash knew he was Phantom. 

So, prank was out. 

Which meant that this--whatever _this_ was--was probably real.

"What the fuck," Danny breathed. He flipped the letter back over and read it again. His brow furrowed.

_...you have not been informed on some rather pertinent information..._

What information? The fact that apparently witches were a real thing? Well, he already knew that from Sam's witchcore phase, but that was less physical magic and more rock auras and 'feeling the earth's emotions'. Which, no. Danny had plenty of confusing emotions to deal with on his own, thanks; he didn't need to add a whole planet's to his list.

Or maybe they meant the fact that _Danny_ was a witch. And, yeah, that would be 'rather pertinent information'.

But Danny wasn't a witch. At least, he didn't think he was a witch. Danny was pretty sure he'd notice if he was suddenly able summon brooms to do his bidding or something. He'd noticed the ghost powers thing fairly quickly, so Danny was confident that he would notice if he had magic. 

Danny's eyes widened.

Oh. Oh no. What if they'd made a mistake? What if these magic people, whoever they were, mistook his ghost powers for witch powers? What if they sent him this letter thinking that, because of his powers, he was one of them?

Pursing his lips, Danny clutched the letter in his hands and stood, taking off back toward Fentonworks. He, apparently, had an eagle to send.

•♧•

Albus Dumbledore was fiddling with one of the knickknacks that resided on his many shelves--this one currently whistling to a tune long forgotten to time--when a bird zoomed into his office and circled the high ceiling with a sharp cry. He blinked up at it, surprised, when he saw that it was glowing faintly purple, its eyes a bright red. 

A raven of some sort?

It soared around the room thrice, before coming to a stop on Fawkes's recently vacated perch, unruffled by the pile of ashes below it. There was a jagged piece of paper attached to its leg with a piece of clear tape, rolled up into a tight scroll. Albus glanced at the raven, noting the way it just sat and stared at him. 

"Hello," Albus began pleasantly. "Do you have a message for me?"

The raven's red eyes drooped some, seeming unimpressed. It kept up it's rather unnerving stare as it slowly, _slowly_ extended its leg. It didn't move as Albus took the paper, only retracting its leg when all the tape was gone. Then it bent and nosed its beak into the ashes beneath it. It let out a soft caw when it found the lump of a newly reborn Fawkes in the mess, pulling the tiny chick out of the ash pile and setting Fawkes atop it. Fawkes let out a warbling cry back, agitated.

Keeping one curious eye on the birds, Albus unrolled the paper and began to read. Not that there was much _to_ read.

' _I haven't made a decision yet. Send the representative. Then we'll talk._

 _-Danny Fenton_ '

Albus blinked, setting the paper down. Well then. He supposed he should call Severus.

•♧•

Danny was pacing back and forth across his room, Sam and Tucker lounging on the beanbags next to his bed. 

"So magic is real?"

"Tucker, we fight ghosts every day. And _this_ is what surprises you," Sam deadpanned, lips twisted. She huffed and shook her head. "Explain this again? This doesn't really make sense, Danny."

"Trust me," Danny shot back, running a hand through his dark hair. "I know. I know that more than anybody. I don't get it either."

Sam pursed her lips, brow furrowing in thought. "Well, you said they were sending a representative, right?"

"Maybe they'll explain," Tucker chimed in, head tipped as he scrawled theories down on his PDA. "Or maybe they'll curse you and your family and we'll all have bad luck for the next century."

"Thanks Tuck," Danny replied dryly, stopping his pacing to send his friend a glare. Tucker just grinned back and winked.

"It's what I'm here for, dude."

"Did they say when they were sending the rep?" Sam interrupted, stopping the staring contest before it could begin.

Danny sighed and flopped down on his bed. "No. They haven't replied at all. Which, rude." He pressed his palms to his eyes with a grimace, a headache starting up deep in his skull. "I don't even know where this school is or if I even want to go or if I even _can_ go. This might just be a mix up."

Tucker snickered, "A magical mix up."

"I hate you."

Sam crossed her arms, looking a bit frustrated. "Are we sure this isn't Vlad's doing? Dash might not know who you are behind the ghostly mask or lack thereof, but Vlad does. He could pull off a prank like this."

"I thought of that too," Danny admitted. "But this isn't Vlad. And, if it is, it's one of his best traps yet, because I ran that letter through every scanner and it came back negative for ectocontamination. I even absorbed it for a second to check for his ectosignature--nothing. Letter's clean."

"He could've just switched to less ghostly tactics," Tucker pointed out.

"I doubt it. Vlad revels in being a halfa--if he's scheming, there's always going to be something ghostly about it. Trust me." Danny scrubbed his hands over his face. He glared at his ceiling and sat up. "But there is someone I can ask."

Sam perked up, eyes widening. "Clockwork?"

Danny shot her a sharp smile as he stood, transforming into Phantom. "Hey, what's the point of having an omniscient mentor if you don't get to constantly pester them with questions?" He turned himself intangible and began to float down through the floor. "I'll be back before dinner, just keep my folks busy."

Tucker gave him a half-assed salute. "Aye aye, Captain."

"Be careful," Sam called as he disappeared fully into the room below, diving down into the lab and opening the portal doors. Danny smiled faintly to himself as he darted into the portal, the chill of the Ghost Zone washing over him and welcoming him home. 

Hopefully he'd be able to find Clockwork before dinner started, given that the Ancient's tower moved around so much. But Clockwork liked Danny, so he was banking on Clockwork making it easy for him.

It took maybe five minutes of free flying before he started passing the occasional ghost-gear, and Danny grinned when the clock tower came into view. No matter the issue, visiting Clockwork was always fun, if only because he enjoyed the other ghost's company. Danny hummed as he flew into the tower doors and up the stairs to Clockwork's observation room. Out of habit, Danny turned invisible and held his breath once he caught sight of Clockwork's tell-tale purple cloak, creeping forward and staying resolutely out of sight. Danny paused for a moment once he was right behind Clockwork, the other giving no indication that he knew Danny was there. Lunging forward, Danny made a grab for the fabric of the cloak's hood, only to be abruptly blocked by a familiar time staff.

"I'd prefer if you didn't."

Danny grinned, dropping his invisibility with a groan. He flopped down on the air dramatically. "You're no fun. I'm gonna see what's under there eventually, you know that, right?"

Clockwork glanced back at him, crimson eyes flaring and a slight smirk curling his lips. "I know everything."

Nose scrunching, Danny huffed. "So you've said. It's why I come to you for answers all the time."

"And also why I don't always give them to you." Clockwork turned back to his orbs with a cluck of his tongue. "What a presumptuous little halfa you've become. I suppose I can blame Plasmius for that."

Danny's eyes narrowed. "I bet you're bald under that hood."

"I am most certainly not bald."

"You're definitely bald."

"Daniel," Clockwork began, tone exasperated, and Danny laughed. "Didn't you have a reason for this visit?"

Danny hummed and gave a grave nod. "Ah, you're right. I came to annoy you. I'm slacking on my 'irritate the Ancients' quota. Thanks for reminding me."

Clockwork snorted, entirely undignified, but shook his head. "Very well. If you insist on being a pest, I suppose I won't tell you the answers to some other pertinent questions that are currently haunting you."

"On second thought," Danny said hastily, floating closer to catch the tail end of Clockwork's smirk. "Mind helping me understand all this magic stuff?" 

Clockwork hummed in acknowledgement, tilting his head. Danny swallowed.

"Is it Vlad? I mean, I don't think it is, but if this is all some weird prank then--"

"It is not Plasmius," Clockwork replied softly. "Nor is it a prank. I assure you that the letter you received was an authentic one. I noticed that you stole one of my ravens to send your reply." He sent Danny a _look_ , and huffed when the young halfa merely sent him a sheepish smile in return. "Hogwarts is a real school. And you do have a place there, should you choose to take it. I see you making close friends there, but if you do choose to attend, Daniel, be aware that it also holds dangers unlike any you've faced in Amity. The wizarding world is not a safe one, especially for someone like you."

"What, because of my ghost powers?" Danny inquired, brow furrowed.

"That is part of it," Clockwork allowed.

Puffing out his cheeks in irritation, Danny huffed. "And let me guess--you can't tell me any more than that or else it'll mess with the time stream, right?"

Smiling, Clockwork shut his eyes and laughed softly. "Perhaps I simply like watching you surprise yourself. And others."

"A cop out if I've ever heard one," Danny snarked back, crossing his arms.

"Mm," Clockwork hummed with a shake of his head. "I suggest you return home now. Unless you feel like being late to get your 'rather pertinent information' from a more reliable source?"

"Aw, but you're ole reliable, Clocky!" Danny chirped, twisting upside down in the air with a cheeky grin. Then, registering the words, he blinked. "Wait--the rep?"

Clockwork inclined his head, and Danny flipped back right side up with a curse. He paused when Clockwork held a hand up. "One more thing, Daniel. If you choose to go, know that the wizarding world has ghosts as well, though they are not like the ones you are used to handling. Do try not to be hostile."

"Me? Hostile? Well I _never_."

"Behave," Clockwork called over his shoulder as he turned back to his screens. He smiled to himself when Danny's reply of, "Not a chance!" reached his ears. He'd set Daniel on the path--Clockwork was confident that he'd make the right decision.


	2. Snape, Snape, Severus Snape

Danny hurtled back through the portal just in time to hear the doorbell ring. Eyes widening, Danny hastily shot through the ceiling into his room. Flashing back to Fenton, Danny stumbled into Tucker, who had apparently moved from his beanbag in the time Danny was gone. Tucker caught him and helped him get his balance back, and Danny shook his head to try and get his orientation back. 

"The rep--"

"Danny, someone's at the door for you, dear!" He heard his mom yell up the stairs, and he paled. 

"Fuck, uh, okay. Guys?" He glanced back to his friends, voice gone up an octave. Sam came to his other side and gave his shoulder a squeeze. 

"We're right here with you, dude."

"Yeah," Tucker chirped. "If they curse one of us, they have to curse all of us!"

"Tucker that does not make me feel better." 

Sam clapped him on the back, punching Tucker with her other hand, and gently guided Danny out of his room. He shrugged off her hand once they reached the stairs, his skin prickling the closer they got to the living room. It wasn't unlike his ghost sense, the way his hair stood on end, all too aware of _something_ in his house that wasn't normal. 

Danny sucked in a deep breath and hopped off the last step, immediately catching sight of a tall man standing just inside the door, beside his mother who was sending him a sharp, confused smile. The man's expression was stony, long black hair hanging in his face, eyes piercing and dark as he caught sight of Danny in return. That dark gaze raked over him once, and an almost unconscious looking sneer plucked at the man's lips, his thick black robes rustling as he straightened further. 

Danny's hackles raised instantaneously, the condescension in the man's face triggering a fight or flight response that meant he would most certainly pick _fight_. Danny's eyes narrowed and he wandered closer to his mother as he came closer, automatically trying to make himself look bigger than he was in an instinctive attempt to ward off the new threat. 

"Hey," Danny began, tone conversational as he held out a hand. "I'm Danny. You're the representative, right?"

"Severus Snape," the man replied smoothly, and he gave Danny's hand an odd look, but didn't take it. "Yes, the Headmaster sent me after you sent your...reply. I was under the impression you would have shared our correspondence with your parents." With that, he turned his gaze to Maddie, who gave Danny a narrow look before turning back to the representative.

"Maddie Fenton. I wasn't aware there were any schools looking at Danny, much less that they'd sent him any letters," she responded, not bothering with offering her own hand when she'd seen him shun Danny's. She looked to Danny then, eyebrows raised in a very familiar ' _Explain this right now young man_ ' expression. 

Danny rubbed the back of his neck, glancing over to where Sam and Tucker were still hovering by the stairs. He jerked his head towards the kitchen. "Guys, if you don't mind?"

Sam and Tucker shared a look, and then Sam was shooting Danny a similar glare to the one his mother had just given him, except this one said ' _You will tell us everything later or so help me_ '. 

Danny wondered what it said about him that all the women in his life were completely terrifying. 

"I'll make tea," Maddie chirped, following after them to, most likely, interrogate them to see if they knew anything. 

Danny watched her go with wary eyes, then spun quickly back to Severus once she'd disappeared around the corner. "Look, whatever you know about me, they don't know. I'd like to keep it that way. This magic business is already pushing it for them--I'd appreciate it if you'd keep anything else you know about me quiet."

Severus raised an eyebrow and in that moment he reminded Danny so much of Vlad that he twitched. Danny fisted his hand behind his back, nails biting into his palm as he waited solemnly for the wizard's answer. 

"Surprisingly, we have very little knowledge of you, Mr. Fenton. All the Headmaster was able to tell me before sending me off for you was that Ilvermorny was refusing to claim responsibility for you because of your mysterious circumstances that have yet to be explained to me, and that I should seek to make you feel 'as welcome as possible'." 

That last bit was said in the most condescending tone of voice Danny had ever heard, but it made him smile because well damn, he'd run off the smallest bits of information before and it was never fun. Severus' stiff demeanor made a bit more sense, at least. Danny relaxed a bit. "Right. Well I'll explain what I'm talking about when we're not, you know, standing in my living room with my parents in earshot." He gestured at the couch and stepped aside. Severus sniffed in disdain before stalking past him to sit down. Danny kept his eyes on him, folding his hands behind his back as he stood next to the armchair. He was still wary, of course, but given that he was fairly sure that the vibes wafting off the wizard weren't bad ones--at least it didn't feel like they were; that weird sense of something different didn't escalate and he assumed that was a good thing--he felt that he could at least hear the man out. Clockwork did say something about the representative being a reliable source of information. 

Severus had perched himself on the edge of the couch like some sort of hulking crow, looking out of place among the blues and purples of the Fenton living room. He raised an eyebrow when Jack came scrambling into the living room, only to immediately fall on his face. Danny scrubbed a hand over his face and refrained from groaning in exasperation.

"Mads said we had company!" Jack chirped as he popped back off the floor like a spring, eyes sparkling with excitement. He rounded the table and snatched up Severus's hand to give it a firm shake, not in the least bit bothered when the other man yanked his hand back almost as soon as he'd taken it. But really, with how oblivious his dad could be to _Vlad_ , Danny was starting to suspect that his dad was just immune to offensive people. "I'm Jack Fenton, Danny's father! I don't know what all this business is about but as long as you're not trying to abduct him into a haunted cult in a hospital, power to you!" Jack said as he plopped down in the chair opposite the one Danny was standing next to. 

When Severus sent Danny an incredulous, irritated look, Danny shrugged. "It's not as farfetched as it sounds."

"Hmph. Well, I assure you, Mr. Fenton, that I am not here to induct your son into a cult," he began, folding his hands over his lap. His eyes darted to Maddie as she came back into the room carrying a pot of tea. "I am actually here to discuss your son's enrollment in our school. I don't know how much Ilvermorny would have told you--by the looks of it they haven't told you anything at all--but to be blunt, your son has magic."

' _Bad way to put it, bad way to put it, bad way to put it,_ ' Danny internally shrieked, alarm blaring as his parent's eyes widened and they snapped their heads to look at him.

"It is likely that he didn't know, just as I assume you haven't before this very moment," Severus was quick to interrupt. "Normally, magical children are informed of their abilities at the age of eleven. However, the magical community of the United States has refused to take responsibility for your son for reasons they did not want to specify beyond the fact that apparently the defenses around your house acted as a...deterrent, to their eagles and their representatives."

His dark eyes flickered, and Danny crossed his arms as he began to imagine exactly what had happened. Several charred birds on their doorstep, people that got shot at when the defense system was being fixed and acted fucky--yeah. Danny could see that being quite the deterrent.

Maddie, who had sat herself on the chair Danny was standing behind, held up a hand. "Hold on. Just--just a moment--you're saying there's _magic_?" She began incredulously. Shaking her head slowly, Maddie let out a short laugh. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you've come to the wrong house."

Leveling Maddie with a steady look, Severus replied, "And how is that, Mrs. Fenton?"

"Because we are not fools and magic isn't real," Maddie answered, brow quirked in question. "Now I don't who put you up to this elaborate prank but--"

"This is a common reaction in Muggles that have never had a magical child," Severus continued calmly. "You think you've been tricked, that magic cannot possibly be real, that every instance of it has been disproven--I assure you that you believe this only because that is what most of the magical community wants you to believe. We keep ourselves separate from the non-magical world for safety's sake, and we will continue to do so unless the state of the world changes drastically. You have not seen signs of magic before because your government would have erased your memory of it if you had. You do not believe in magic because your government does not wish for you too. The only reason you are learning of it now is because the Headmaster of Hogwarts wishes to take in your son since Ilvermorny is refusing to do so." 

Jack, whose jaw had dropped and had briefly been rendered silent by shock, closed his mouth and reached a hand out towards his wife. "Mads--"

"What about the 'representatives' you spoke of?" Maddie drawled, unimpressed. "If magic is real, and there are magical people that apparently came to try and tell us about this years ago--why were they stopped by our defense system? Couldn't they just _magick_ it away?" She gave a sarcastic flutter of her fingers, and Danny looked from her to Severus in curiosity. That was a good question.

In response, Severus nodded at Danny. "I suspect that this is because your son has set up wards around your property. They're sloppy and jagged, so I doubt he is creating them on purpose, but it would've been enough to charge your weapons against any wixen he didn't know or trust. It wouldn't have stopped a non-magical creature, of course, but it would've been enough to keep those with even the smallest amount of magic away. I imagine it's taken up quite a bit of his strength, keeping those wards up."

Danny's hand flew to his chest, right over where his core was located, but its buzz was just as cold and strong as before. He blinked and tipped his head, confused. 

Jack pursed his lips, looking uncharacteristically solemn. He glanced at Danny and gave a soft smile. "You always have been smaller than everyone else. And don't think I didn't notice how much paler you've gotten these past few months."

Turning to look at him, Maddie scoffed. "Oh, don't tell me you believe this, Jack! Magic isn't _real_ , and Danny's always been small!"

"And you've never wondered why?" Jack shot back. "He eats as much as I do, and he gets plenty of exercise running around town with Sam and Tucker! He should at least be as tall as Jazz!"

"So he's a late bloomer! He's fourteen!"

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. It was like the Santa argument all over again. Except this time it was worse, because Danny was smack in the middle of it. "Okay!" He stepped forward and held his hands out. "Calm down. I know I'm short, you don't have to rub it in. Look, Mom, for what's it worth, I talked to--well, wrote to--the principal or whatever beforehand and...I think it's legit. And before you say that I'm being naive," Danny hurried to get out when Maddie rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to protest. "I did consider the idea that this could be a prank. I checked all the people that could pull this off and even ran the letter through some of the scanners. Everything came back clean. I am ninety nine percent sure that this is not a trick."

He was a hundred percent sure, actually, but he couldn't say that and explain why without seeming stupid or bringing up Clockwork, which, _no_. 

"I don't believe this," Maddie said...rather disbelievingly. "How do I know you're not part of this prank, Danny? I know how big of a trickster streak you have."

"Hey! I--actually, okay, that's fair," Danny conceded with a wince. That's what he gets for blaming so many of his ghostly attributes on pranks. He shook his head. "But the point is that I _didn't_ have anything to do with this, and I don't think it's a trick."

"Look, why don't we let the rep explain a bit more?" Jack piped up, looking between his wife and his son warily. Danny huffed. He was infinitely glad that Jazz wasn't home. If his mom was this bad, he couldn't imagine how Miss Psychology would've taken all this. Jack held his hands up placatingly, drawing everyone's attention back to him. He gestured at the disgruntled wizard sitting on their couch. "Maybe we'd understand this all a bit more with more information?"

"...Very well," Severus pulled an odd, polished stick out of his pocket and swished it sharply in the direction of the table. Danny blinked in surprise as all the tea cups shot up of their own accord and raced to jam themselves into everyone's hands, Danny's own tea cup nearly spilling all over him because he didn't get his arms uncrossed in time. Severus flashed the stick over his own cup and the tea inside shimmered. Only then did he take a slow, weary sip. The aroma of peppermint didn't change, so Danny assumed it was some sort of magic to make sure the tea was safe. Which, given how Danny's mother was acting, was fair.

"When a child is given their letter at the age of eleven, a representative from their respective school comes out to explain the wizarding world to them. This is only if they have Muggle families, or as they say in America, No-Madge families. After everything is explained, the guardians of the magical child are given instructions on how to acquire the needed materials to start the school year. At Ilvermorny, the representatives would've sent you to a small shop in New York that gives out second-hand supplies to Muggleborns for free. However, seeing as Ilvermorny has absolved themselves of all responsibility regarding your son, I will direct you to Diagon Alley. In Britain."

Maddie was still staring down at her tea cup like it held a void within it. She didn't even seem to hear anything Severus said. Jack sat up straighter, eyes wide.

" _Britain_? That's so far away!" Jack exclaimed. "How will Danny get back and forth to school?"

"I imagine it's a type of boarding school, dear," Maddie said monotonously after a moment, fingers shaking as she ran them all around her cup, like she was searching for strings. 

Danny coughed and raised his own cup to cover his face. He nearly tipped it over his jaw, but caught it at the last second. Humming as he sipped, Danny noted that his mother had made peppermint tea with the smallest bit of sugar and lemon. Vlad's favorite. So he wasn't the only one who felt the similarity. 

Severus set his cup down and inclined his head. "Yes, Hogwarts resides in Britain--Scotland, to be accurate. Once gathering all his necessary school things and acquiring a familiar if he wants to spare the money for it, your son will live at Hogwarts for all but summer and the winter holidays. You can send letters to him once he is at Hogwarts, but most Muggle technology does not work inside the school so it is unlikely that any communication device he brings will work." He pulled out the stick again and Danny tensed as his mother looked up like a deer in the headlights. Severus flicked the stick again and several orbs of light emerged from the end of it, flickering green and blue and black. "At Hogwarts your son will learn to control his magic. Outbursts of accidental magic tend to lessen and disappear altogether once a child starts proper schooling--though with the wards he has somehow managed to keep up for years, I doubt you've had many of those as is."

Danny reached up to touch one of the orbs when it floated towards him, eyes like saucers. Frost crept over the orb, solidifying part of it and making it crumble. Danny snatched his hand back and mentally scolded his core for getting so excited. "I can do stuff like this?"

"These are merely parlor tricks," Severus stated bluntly. "But yes, once at Hogwarts you will learn how to do all of this and much, much more. I imagine it will take you longer, however, given that you are a good three years behind everyone else. You can blame the Madame President for that."

Jack's brow furrowed. "We don't have a Madame President. Not yet, anyway."

Severus' lips quirked. "I'm aware. However your Muggle president has next to nothing to do with the president of the American magical community. If it were up to the Madame President, the representatives from Ilvermorny would have taken your son from you and modified your memories once he reached eleven. It would be like he never existed."

Danny's jaw clenched and he looked down at his tea cup with a huff. "Guess I know why my wards or whatever yeeted them off the porch."

He hadn't said it loud enough to be heard, but Severus gave the faintest ghost of a smile that he promptly hid behind the rim of his cup. Danny snorted quietly and set his cup down.

"So what now? If you're not going to take me from my family and erase their memories of me, then why invite me to this Hogwarts school? You could've just left me here to languish in feeling weak and stunted because of my wards or whatever. I'm all the way across the pond--I'm not your problem. Why?"

"...You are a magical child," Severus said after a moment, incredulous. "You are already behind your age group in terms of schooling, but that can be remedied. Leaving you to stumble about on your own while trying to discover your magic is out of the question, however. Abandoning you to Ilvermorny's snap judgements leaves you open to the very real possibility of becoming an Obscurous--a child who has become so afraid of their own power that they stuff it down, chain it up so that even _they_ can't release it, and it corrupts them from the inside out, turning them into a creature capable of mass destruction."

Danny went deathly pale, remembering a haunting laugh and his own distorted symbol--a mountain thunder voice telling him that his future was set in stone. 

_"We're inevitable..."_

Severus's dark eyes had turned piercing, and there was an abrupt nudge in Danny's head. He batted it away unthinkingly. Swallowing, Danny looked at his shoes, unnerved. 

Blue eyes flicked up only after the silence stretched thin, mouth dry as he croaked, "So, dad? What's the verdict?"

Jack scrubbed a hand over his mouth and blew out a breath. He glanced at Maddie, who was now shifting a glare between the tea set and one of the orbs of light that floated too close. "Maddie?" Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and he lifted one shoulder a bit helplessly. "What--what should we do? I need your input on this, sweetheart, you know I'm no good at making decisions by myself."

Gloved fingers flew to her mouth, and Maddie closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. She bit into the rubber of her suit gloves and shook her head. "T-This...this is _absurd_. There's no way my son is some--some monster!"

Severus stiffened minutely, but his expression didn't change. "I never said your son was a monster," he said calmly, though there was something sharp in his eyes now. 

"But you implied that he could turn into one!" Maddie shouted, flailing a hand at Danny. "He's not capable of-of _mass destruction_! He's not going to turn into some creature hellbent on causing devastation!"

Danny turned his head away, finding it hard to breathe all of a sudden. 

Maddie seemed to deflate a bit, a bit of panic leaking back into the anger of her expression. "He's...he's just Danny. He's my _son_. None of this makes any sense. It's--ha--it's scientifically impossible! The science isn't _there_ , this shouldn't--" she cut herself off, pursing her lips tightly. Standing awkwardly, almost staggering, Maddie shook her head and picked up the tea tray. "I...I need a minute. Or thirty."

With that, she stumbled back into the kitchen with the tray, and turned abruptly to go down to the lab instead. Danny winced.

Jack cleared his throat. "Say we accept," he started wearily, smiling faintly. "Is there anything else we need to know? How would this work? How would we get to Britain and-and pay for everything? How much is magic supplies? Is there anything we need to sign, or--"

Severus twitched, and then slowly swished his stick again, a sheet of paper flourishing into being from seemingly nowhere. He handed it to Jack. "This is a permission slip that will allow your son to visit the small shop village attached to Hogwarts. It's not a requirement, but most students in the year he will be joining will have already had theirs signed and filed. Other than that, no, you do not have to sign anything. His past school records won't matter in the Hogwarts curriculum, and the school mediwitch will give him an exam at the start of the year to make her own medical records. They tend to be more accurate that way."

Danny sent up a quiet thanks to whatever god was trotting around up there, breathing out a sigh of relief that his past grades wouldn't matter. Lancer would have an aneurism. 

Jack took the form and patted himself down for a pen. He huffed and shovelled four bags of fudge out of his pockets before finally finding one, signing the slip with a slab of peanut butter swirl hanging out of his mouth. He handed it back to Severus, who snapped it away into his robe. "Anything else?"

"The Headmaster has decided to set up a connection to the Floo network through your fireplace, if you'd agree to it. It's a mode of travel that will allow you to traverse to Diagon Alley and back. It is only temporary, so don't expect to be able to use it once the school year begins." Severus reached into his robe and pulled out a small drawstring pouch. He tugged it open and withdrew a few large, golden coins from within it. "As for money--Gringotts bank offers transfers for a small fee. You will be able to exchange your Muggle money out for wizarding fare there, and do your shopping that way." He displayed the coins on his palm, and Danny caught sight of some sort of creature carved into it before Severus hid them away in the pouch again.

"Do we need to...do anything, to the fireplace, or...?" Jack asked after a moment, looking hopelessly bewildered. Danny was glad that he was in here for this, despite how _swell_ it had gone so far. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do anything even if he'd wanted to. 

"...I will take care of it before I leave." 

Great. Even the wizard thought his dad was incompetent.

Danny paused, clenching his fists, and let out a slow breath. That was uncalled for. He knew Jack tried, even if he only rarely succeeded--he _tried_. Danny was getting frustrated. He could feel it in the way his teeth itched and that weird feeling of something intruding began to chafe against his ribs, his hackles slowly rising. Mom clearly hadn't taken this well. At all. It was putting him on edge. 

"If I may, I would like to speak to your son alone for a moment. There were some things in his letter we need to discuss." 

Danny's eyes snapped back over to Severus, who was staring calmly at Jack. Standing almost gratefully, Jack nodded and hummed, making for the kitchen. "I'll go get Maddie. See if I can't talk her down."

When he disappeared into the kitchen as well, Danny swallowed. He shut his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms again. "I didn't put anything in my letter worth talking about."

Severus gazed at him critically, analytical. "No, but your comment when I arrived sounded worthy of further conversation. And I do believe your parents are no longer within earshot."

Opening his eyes and turning to face the wizard, Danny steeled himself and uttered, "I'm dead." When Severus merely raised his eyebrows at him, Danny rolled his eyes. "Half dead, I mean. I'm half ghost. And my parents are ghost hunters. Very, very passionate ones. When my mom gets it in her head that something is fact, that's it. You can't change her mind. So believe me, this isn't the first time that--" he gestured weakly towards the lab. "Has happened."

"You are... _half_ ghost." Severus didn't seem very impressed. "And you don't want your parents knowing this because they would kill you."

"Again. Or strap me to a lab table and dissect me," Danny conceded with a shrug. "Either way I'm not too keen on them knowing. I thought that you might know, since I didn't know whether having ghost powers would show up on the magical radar or whatever. To be honest, I was convinced that this was a misunderstanding until like, half an hour ago."

"And yet you do not think it is now?"

"A friend convinced me otherwise. They told me to have a little faith."

Severus eyed him suspiciously. "I don't suppose you would be able to give a demonstration of these powers of yours?"

Danny bit his lip, thinking it over. He glanced back over his shoulder, listening hard for the sound of his parents, but they were both still down in the lab. Sucking in a deep, steadying breath, Danny closed his eyes and let the static feel of his transformation rings pass over him. It wrapped coldness all around him, coating his hands with white and sending a flutter up through his hair. His legs dissolved into a spectral tail and he rose up off the ground, opening his eyes to see the slightest widening of the wizard's eyes. 

"This is my ghost half. I go by Phantom in this form." Danny held up a hand, a roiling ball of green ectoenergy poofing into being above his palm. He spun it above his finger like a basketball, averting his eyes from Severus once more. "I've never really had anything magical happen to me, but ever since I stepped into the portal, I've been able to do everything a ghost can do--sometimes more. That's why I thought it might have been confused for magic."

"I felt your magical signature around this house," Severus muttered tonelessly. "It saturates this entire town, but it is most focused here. There are wards around this town as well, but they were new and far weaker than the ones here, so I didn't pay them any mind. There was something else in them, something I couldn't identify. It was this." He raised a hand, a shimmer starting in his palm before he closed his eyes and it blanketed the entire living room. All on the chairs and floor, strains of green began to glow. 

Severus's eyes snapped back open, and he looked around with a scrunched expression. "What _is_ this?"

Danny was looking at the glimmering glows with a faintly impressed expression. "Ectocontamination. Normally you need special equipment to see it."

Before Severus could say anything else, a loud beeping noise came from the lab, and a shout sounded as footsteps pounded up the stairs. Danny's eyes widened, and he barely managed to dodge the ectoshot that his mother aimed at him as she skidded back into the living room, eyes sharp and focused. She was obviously eager to be back in her element, where ghosts were bad and things made sense. Danny immediately turned intangible and shot up through the ceiling and into the bathroom, hastily changing back into Fenton. 

He heaved in a heavy breath, heart thudding wildly in his chest. For a moment, he'd forgotten where he was. 

Pressing his forehead against the wood of the bathroom door with a grimace, Danny let out a long, tired sigh. He couldn't do that again. Not with his parents as on edge as they were now. At least he had one thing going for him.

This was real.

Magic was real.


End file.
